Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 13,44-46
'The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. 'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
With these two parables Jesus wants to reaffirm how believers should behave in front of the opportunity of attaining the kingdom of heaven. Jesus describes this behaviour through the decision that the farmer, first, and the merchant, later, take to sell everything with the aim of buying the treasure they discovered. In both cases the same sentence is repeated: the farmer "sells all that he has and buys that field", and the merchant "buys" the pearl. It is the heart of Jesus' preaching. He came to earth to inaugurate the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of mercy, love, peace and fraternity. The Gospel message is very clear: Jesus tells us that nothing is worth as much as the Kingdom of God. To attain it one can leave everything. And it is an intelligent choice as well as a saving one. A disciple of St. Philip Neri, Cesare Baronio, commented on these two parables, and used an effective image: in order to attain the Kingdom of heaven we must be "businessmen" and not "idle" people. We often believe that the Gospel imposes renunciation and heavy sacrifice. In fact it is the contrary: the choice of the Kingdom of God means welcoming the Gospel, listening to it and putting it into practice. It is about being part of God's vision on the world, that is working to transform the world into a more fraternal, just, and merciful one. All this requires abandoning every egocentrism and closure. The choice of following Jesus is the choice of the kingdom in which we receive the fullness of life and joy.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
